A Step at a Time
by boheman buddy
Summary: Now Ziva, Tony, and the girls are living together, but will one mission change everything? TIVA.
1. Chapter 1

_**Ok so this is the sequel to Secrets, hope you like it, love Sophie xxx:-D**_

_One week later_

Ziva walked into Ellie's hospital room to see her struggling around the room on her crutches.

"What on earth are you trying to do Ellie?" Ziva asked.

"I'm packing my things, the sooner I get out of here, the better!" Ellie replied.

Ziva laughed at her daughter, then took the clothes in her hands and put them in the suitcase.

"Well, since you're not having much luck packing, go and sit down and I'll take over." Ziva said.

"Fine," Ellie sighed. "Where's Tali?"

" At day care, I'm going to leave her there for day, get you settled at home. Sound ok?" She replied.

"Uh huh," she answered. "Ok I'm packed now, can we go? If I spend another minute I will die!"

"I thought the reason you go to a hospital is so you don't die…" Ziva replied.

"Ok, come on lets go" Ellie finished. Ziva grabbed the bag and helped Ellie out of the room.

"Um Ziva, am I still grounded?" Ellie asked.

"Oh yes, yes. You are still grounded, deal with it kid!" Ziva laughed.

"But Ziva-!" Ellie whined.

"I could make it seven months if you would prefer that." Ziva said.

"I'll be ok." Ellie replied. Ziva laughed as she watched Ellie hobble down the hallway.

A few minutes later they were in the car and on their way home.

"Ziva, could you please go a little slower, I already have a broken arm and leg, I don't want another thing broken." Ellie said.

"What's wrong? You usually love it when I drive." Ziva replied.

"Yeah, I love it when I'm sitting upright. In the backseat with my leg up, not as much fun!" She told her mother.

"Fine I'll go a bit slower." Ziva agreed. From the driver seat, Ziva could hear a small sigh of relief from Ellie as the car slowed down.

"Ziva, you missed the turn, our street was back there." Ellie said.

"No it's not, I have a surprise for you." Ziva said.

"What did you do?" Ellie asked.

"You'll see in a minute" Ziva laughed.

When the car stopped, Ellie looked out of the window and then looked at Ziva.

"Why are we at Tony's place?" Ellie asked.

"Come on, lets get you out of the car." Ziva said, ignoring the question.

When Ellie opened the door, she was greeted by Tony.

"Hi Tony. Ok since Ziva won't tell me, can you explain why we aren't at our apartment?"Ellie said.

"Well Ellie, this is your apartment now, coz you guys are going to live with me now." Tony replied.

"You guys are together now? Oh my god!" She said excitedly. Ellie threw her crutches back in the car and hugged them both. "Um so what else happened while I was away? Oh god you're not pregnant again are you Ziva?" Ellie asked. Both of the adults laughed at her question.

"No ,no. I fact we haven't even… well you know, yet." Tony said.

"Ok good, but before you guys, you know. You're going to have to buy me an MP3 player." She grinned, then walked over to the building.

"Why is that, Ellie?" Tony called out to her.

"Coz she really, is a screamer, and I am definitely NOT listening to THAT again!"

_**so how was the first chapter? Plz tell me what you think! thanks love Sophie xxx:-D**_


	2. Mornin!

_**So how is it so far? I really hope you like it, plz if you have suggestions for the story let me know, thanks Soph xxx:-D**_

The next day Ellie woke up, she crawled out of bed and made her way to the bathroom.

"AAAARGH "Ellie screamed. Ziva heard her daughter, she grabbed her gun and ran out of the bedroom. With her gun pointing up, Ziva found her daughter outside the bathroom door.

"What happened?" Ziva asked.

"I walked in on him peeing," Ellie said. Ziva started laughing hysterically.

"It's not funny Ziva! I will be traumatized for the rest of my life!" Ellie shouted.

"I'm sorry, but you have to get used to the fact that we are living with a guy now." Ziva laughed. Just as Ziva had finished laughing Tony came out of the bathroom.

"Mornin!" he said cheerfully and shot Ellie a massive grin, she blushed slightly then went in the bathroom. Ziva and Tony started laughing again, then he walked over to Ziva and kissed her on the cheek.

"Sleep well?" Ziva asked.

"If sleep well means not at all because it sounded like there was an aeroplane engine going off next to me, then yes, I slept very well!" Tony smiled.

"I'm not that bad!" she said as she slapped him on the arm. " If I'm as bad as you say, then get earplugs so you won't hear me," Ziva suggested.

"Ziva, you could amputate my ears and I would STILL be able to hear you!" Tony said.

"Are you willing to test that theory?" Ziva asked.

"Um, I'll be fine." He said. He put his arm around her waist and guided her into the kitchen.

"Do you want omelets for breakfast?" Tony asked.

"Woah, you can actually cook?" Ziva said.

"Only omelets, anything else I suck at!" Tony laughed.

"Ok then, I'm game, I'll try your specialty." Ziva agreed. Ellie walked out into the kitchen.

"Hey Ellie, did you wash your hands?" Tony grinned.

"Yes, but I'll bet you didn't, you also forgot to put the seat down." Ellie returned. Tony looked down at the floor and blushed slightly.

"Ewww Tony, you can keep the omelet, we'll stick to cereal." Ziva laughed.

"Fine! Be like that!" Tony pouted. All of a sudden, they heard the cry of a baby.

"She's needs changing, I'll get her." Ziva said. She got up from the table and disappeared down the hall.

"So are you and Ziva going to work today?" Ellie asked.

"Yes, and you're coming with us,"

"Tony, I can stay alone for a few hours in a locked house, I'll be fine," Ellie said.

"Well, I would still say no, but it's not my choice it's Ziva's, do you actually think she'd leave you alone after what happened? Besides, it's that or you go to day care with Tali," Tony said.

"No, going to work is fine," She smiled.

"Good, and there's a few people who want to meet you, like Abby, she's cool, don't be scared by her appearance," Tony said. Ellie shot him a puzzled look.

"Why? What does she look like?" Ellie asked. Tony grinned at her again.

"You'll see. Then there's McGee, Ducky, of course you know Director Sheppard, and our boss Gibbs, if he scares you, don't show it, and don't apologize either." Tony informed her.

"Should I be writing this down? or…" Ellie asked.

"No no, that's about it." Tony replied.

"Good, coz my left hand is the one I write with, and it's the broken one, so." Ellie said.

A few minutes later Ziva came out with Tali.

"Ok, we're ready, are you two?"Ziva asked.

"We just have to get dressed," Tony answered for both of them.

"Well hurry up, Gibbs will kill us if we're late, we haven't even told him about our living arrangement yet." Ziva said.

"How much trouble are you two going to get in?" Ellie asked.

"Probably a lot!" they answered.

_**Sorry if that was a little slow, I'm just trying to decide what happens next, any suggestions? Thanks Soph xxx:-D**_


	3. Introducing

**_So how has it been so far? Sorry it took so long, I have been really busy this week, thanks, Soph xxx:-D_**

Their car had just pulled into a parking space. Tony and Ziva had gotten out and it took a little bit longer for them to help Ellie out of the car.

"Ok you ready, kid?" Tony asked.

"Uh huh" she replied. "Are you?" she smiled.

"Hah! Not really, but now is a good a time as any to get my ass kicked!" he laughed.

Ellie stared at him for a minute with a confused look. They walked inside the building and went into the elevator

"Gibbs isn't really that bad is he, Ziva?" Ellie asked.

"No, of course he isn't." Ziva replied.

"Good." Ellie said with relief.

"He's worse!" Ziva finished.

Suddenly the elevator doors opened and before they could exit the elevator, Abby jumped out of nowhere and hugged Ellie.

"Hi you must be Ellie, I'm Abby, I work with Ziva and Tony." Abby squealed as she hugged the teenager tightly.

"Hi Abby, it's great to meet you." she whispered, struggling to get air. "You know what would make it even greater?" she asked croakily.

"What's that, sweetie?" Abby replied.

"If I could breathe." Ellie answered. Abby suddenly let go, causing Ellie to stumble a little. Luckily, Ziva and Tony caught her before she fell too far.

"I'm sorry, I didn't meant to!" Abby apologized.

"Abby, it's fine!" Ellie laughed, when Abby stood back, it was the first time Ellie had chance to study the Goth's appearance. She looked over at Tony, he knew what she meant and nodded.

"Um Abs, how come you always know when we're at the elevator?" Tony asked.

"A good magician never reveals her secrets, let's just say I have friends in high places" Abby grinned.

"You mean you have friends in security downstairs?" Ziva asked.

"Maybe." Abby mumbled whilst looking at the floor. Whilst they were talking they heard a voice from down the hall.

"Is that my little girl?!" The voice called out. Ellie smiled and hobbled as fast as she could in the direction of the voice.

"Jen!" Ellie squealed. They both rushed towards the other one and hugged as soon as they were close enough.

"Oh, my little girl. How are you? I haven't seen you in ages!" Jen said excitedly.

"Jen, I'm a big girl now, and I'm good." Ellie replied.

"Sorry, big girl." Jen smiled. Just as they had let go of each other, Tony's cell phone rang.

"Hi boss… me and Ziva are in the bullpen… yep, we'll be right there." Tony talked into the phone. Once the conversation was finished, he closed his phone and put it in his pocket.

"Ziva, that was Gibbs, we gotta go." Tony said. Ziva nodded and walked over to Ellie and the director.

"Ok, um Ellie, I have to go now, but I want you to go with Abby and she's going to show you her lab, be good." she said. She smiled and hugged her daughter.

"I will, Ziva, bye." Ellie replied. Ziva turned around and followed Tony into the elevator.

"So, that went well hmm? Abby seemed to like her." Tony said.

"Tony, Abby likes everyone, and I'm not worried about them meeting her, we have to tell Gibbs we moved in together before someone else does." Ziva replied.

"So when should we tell him?"Tony asked.

"Very, very soon." She answered.

A few hours later they were back at NCIS and Gibbs walked into the lab with his fifth cup of coffee for the day.

"Abby, I got evidence-." He stopped when instead of seeing Abby, he saw a young girl with long dark hair playing with the hippo, he knew who she was because he recognized her from the photos.

"Hi, Ellie right?" Gibbs greeted her.

"Right, you must be Gibbs. Nice to meet you." She replied. She confidently stood up from her chair and went over to shake his hand. He was slightly surprised by the confidence the young girl displayed, he really shouldn't have been, as it was just another trait her mother had passed down to her. Just then, Abby walked into the room.

"Gibbs hi! Ellie, here you go, welcome to the world of the caf-pow, cheers ." She said as she excitedly passed one of the oversized drinks to the younger girl and clinked them together. She loudly slurped her drink and then turned her attention to Gibbs.

"So Gibbs, what have you got for me?" Abby asked.

"New case, new evidence." He replied.

"Right, I'll have a look at it in a minute, but I have to take you home missy. Have you got the new keys to Tony's place yet?" Abby asked. Gibbs turned around to face Abby.

"Did I miss something?" Gibbs said.

"Oh Ziva and the girls moved in with Tony a few days ago. Isn't that great?!" Abby squealed.

"I have to go." Gibbs said quietly. He turned around and walked out. Abby looked slightly confused, then her expression changed as she realized what she had done.

"Oh god! He didn't know, did he?" Abby asked.

"No Abby, he didn't."

_**So how was that? Sorry it took so long, hope you liked it, pretty boring I know, but hopefully things will pick up soon, if you have suggestions please give me a shout thanks, Soph xxx:-D **_


	4. He Knows

_**So how was that chapter, sorry if it's boring so far, but hopefully it'll get better soon! If you have any suggestions or anything at all you want to tell me about please give me a shout, thanks so much guys I love you! Soph xxx:-D**_

Less than two minutes later Gibbs stormed into the bullpen. All three of the agents looked up at Gibbs with fright in their eyes.

"Ziva and Tony get your asses up in the director's office right now!" Gibbs barked. Tony and Ziva almost jumped out of their seats, they followed their orders and quickly made their way up the stairs. Gibbs walked in front of them, ignoring Cynthia's calls, he walked straight into Jenny's office to find her on the phone. She noticed them instantly and quickly said goodbye and put the phone down. Seconds later Tony and Ziva walked in looking like two guilty teenagers.

"What is it this time, Jethro?" Jenny asked impatiently.

"These two moved in together, you know anything about that?!" Gibbs yelled as he pointed towards his agents. Jenny looked at Tony and Ziva, then turned her attention back to Gibbs.

"I knew they were dating, Ziva forgot to mention the moving in part. What's the problem?" Jenny replied.

"The problem is, Director, that this is the first time I'm hearing about it. Tony, Ziva, why?" He asked.

"Boss, we were going to tell you soon, we just needed to wait for the right time and- ah screw this, me and Ziva as humans are allowed to have personal lives, including relationships. It doesn't matter how I explain this to you now, I already know the outcome. You'll tell us to break up or leave. So come on get it over with!" Tony answered angrily. Tony took a deep breath, finally realizing what he had just said, he turned red with embarrassment and looked down at the floor, even without eye contact, he could feel his boss staring at him, making holes in his forehead.

"You two, go wait outside. NOW!" Gibbs yelled. They younger agents walked out of the room, as soon as the door closed, Gibbs turned around to face his boss.

"That was totally unnecessary Agent Gibbs!" the red head yelled at him.

"I'm their boss, I need to know anything that might affect my teams ability to do their job! They should have told me straight away!" He yelled back.

"The reason they didn't tell you straight away was probably because they were trying to avoid exactly this!" She replied.

"This is going to screw up my team!" he shouted.

"As I recall, we had the same conversation last week, this is going to end the same way as that one did. They don't have to stop seeing each other, they don't have to stop living together and neither one of them is going to have to leave, I am not going to break up that family. If that is too much of a problem for you, then you can leave." She replied, her voice was now back to it's usual calm tone.

"What if it doesn't work out with them Jen? I'm sure you've heard about Tony's reputation with women." Gibbs said.

"We'll cross that bridge _IF_ we come to it, and besides, if Tony hurts her, Ziva will probably kill him long before it becomes a problem for the team." She replied.

"What if I have to leave Tony? What if I get sent back to Israel, I can't leave." Ziva said while pacing up and down. Tony stopped her and pushed the hair away from her eyes.

"Ziva, that is not going to happen, I promise. I know we're probably screwed, but you and the girls moving back to Israel is never going to happen, I won't let it." He replied.

He gave her a quick hug before Cynthia sent them back into the office.

"So what's the verdict?" Ziva asked.

"You can stay together, on three conditions. One, you have to keep as much of it out of the office as possible, two, there will be no sex in the elevators, closets, bathrooms, cars or any other places at NCIS and three, if you break up, it is not my problem and will not affect your jobs. Do I make my self clear?" Gibbs said in a slightly raised voice.

"Crystal, boss." Tony replied.

"Good, now go downstairs and work on the case." He instructed, they did as they were told and left the directors office.

"That was a good decision, Jethro," Jen said.

"We'll see,"He said. He turned around and walked out.

_**ok so how was it? I hope it's ok, I consulted a few people, so now I know what a big part of the plot will be. Hope you like it, thankyou to everyone! Love Soph xxx:-D **_


	5. Not a kid!

_**Not got much to say… hope you like it love Soph xxx:-D**_

A minute later Ziva and Tony walked down the stairs to find Ellie, Abby, McGee and Ducky waiting for them.

"Ziva, Tony. I'm so sorry, I thought he knew, and it just slipped-." Abby apologized.

"Abby, Abby, it's ok, it actually turned out well. Gibbs is letting us stay together." Tony said.

"Yaaaaaay!" Abby squealed and hugged them. McGee and Ducky then came up to them to congratulate them.

"Congratulations guys," Ellie said as she hugged them both.

"Thanks Ellie" they both smiled.

"So you met Ducky and McGee hmm?" Tony asked.

"Yup, they're all really nice, well, to me anyway, even Gibbs. Is that everyone, now?" Ellie replied.

"I think so. You ready to go home, kid?" Ziva asked.

"Ziva, I'm not a kid!" Ellie argued.

"Well you're my kid, and if I wish to, I will continue to call you kid until you turn 75, so you'd better get used to it." Ziva smiled. Ellie simply glared at her mother, who was doing the same to her, they continued their staring competition until they both started laughing.

"Come on ladies, lets go and get Tali, then we can go home." Tony said. They turned around and walked to the elevator.

"Do you guys want pizza for dinner?" Tony asked.

"Can I use chopsticks?" Ellie asked.

"Ellie, why do you want to use chopsticks to eat pizza?" a confused Ziva asked.

"Coz I feel like it, so can I?" Ellie replied.

"Of course you can you little freak!" Tony laughed.

* * *

About half an hour later, they arrived home with Tali and two pepperoni pizzas.

"Ellie, chopsticks are in the kitchen, second drawer down." Tony told her.

"Thanks, Tony." Ellie laughed. Ziva took Tali out of her pram and sat her on her lap.

"I'm going to give Tali a bath, then I'll eat." Ziva said, she got up off the sofa and carried Tali to the bathroom.

"Ziva, if I were you, I'd hurry up coz I'm not sure there's gonna be any pizza left in a few minutes." Tony smiled.

There better be, or you will get to meet my taser gun." Ziva threatened.

"Oooooh! Ok then." Tony shuddered. "Hey Ellie, how those chopsticks going?" Tony laughed.

"Pretty good actually." Ellie said while neatly eating the pizza with the chopsticks.

"Hmmm, looks easier than I thought it would," Tony said whilst looking at her.

"Yeah it's pretty simple, I'm eating with chopsticks and I still have better table manners than you do." She giggled.

"Hey! Not nice, that really hurt me!" Tony whined as he placed his hand over his heart.

"Sorry, but I was taught to tell the truth, and to only lie when absolutely necessary." Ellie replied.

"I suppose that's a good thing, right, I mean you know, for when you're older and want to go to parties and drink. And that other thing.." Tony laughed.

"But Tony, maybe I will think it's necessary to lie about those things." She teased him.

"Oooooh, ok I'm done here. Want ice cream?" Tony asked.

"Sure." Ellie replied. Tony got up off the floor and went into the kitchen. He got two bowls and filled them up. He brought them over to the coffee table and sat down on the floor.

"Here you go." Tony said as he pushed the bowl in front of her.

"Thanks" Ellie replied. Ellie started to eat the ice cream and Tony sighed.

"Ellie enough with the chopsticks, get a spoon for the ice cream!"

* * *

Late that night Jenny Shepard sat in her office just staring at her computer screen when she was alerted to a new e-mail. She clicked it open, inside she found a picture of three people with some writing at the top.

"Crap!" she muttered.

_**Ok so next chapter it will hopefully get more exciting. Personal note, pizza and ice cream are actually pretty easy to eat with chopsticks lol. Love you lots Sophie xxx:-D **_


	6. Five Days

_**So yeah, here goes the next chapter. Hope you like it love Soph xxx:-D**_

The next morning Ziva woke up and glanced at her clock, she immediately sprang out of bed, waking Tony up.

"Ziva, what's wrong?" Tony mumbled.

"Tony, it's 7:30 if were not at work in half an hour we're dead!" she replied.

"Ah crap!" He groaned, then he crawled out of bed and started to get dressed. As soon as Ziva was dressed ran out into the hall and opened Ellie's bedroom door.

"Ellie, Sweetie, you have to get up, we need to be at work really really soon!" Ziva called out as she ran further down the hall. She went into Tali's room and got her dressed, then once everyone was in the kitchen, she got two flasks out of the cupboard and made some coffee. Five minutes later Ziva was in the drivers seat and going about 20 over the speed limit, just to get there on time. The day care center was out of their way so they had to take Tali with them.

* * *

They luckily arrived at headquarters at 7:55 thanks to Ziva's reckless driving so they didn't have to run inside like idiots. They walked to the and got in.

"See, we made it in time, were not dead!" Tony grinned as he let out a sigh of relief.

"Tony, don't speak to me just yet, I haven't even had coffee this morning, so until I do, communication needs to be kept to a minimum." Ziva mumbled.

"Fair enough." Tony replied. "Gosh, you get like this and you like only have three cups a day, I'd hate to see what Gibbs is like first thing without his coffee." Tony shuddered.

The elevators doors opened and the first thing they heard was Gibbs's voice echoing through the room.

"I think your about to find out, Tony." Ziva whispered. Tony groaned then forced a smile to appear on his face.

"Morning, boss!" Tony greeted Gibbs cheerful.

"You two, you need to go up to MTAC, the director needs to talk to you." Gibbs said quietly whilst looking at the floor. Ziva was confused by Gibbs's behaviour, but she nodded and handed Tali to Ellie.

"Ellie, look after Tali for a minute, I'll be back in a little while." Ziva told her daughter. She and Tony then walked up the stairs.

"You know why Jenny needs to speak with them don't you?" Ellie asked.

"Yep." Gibbs replied.

"Would you like to share that information with me, Agent Gibbs?" She asked again.

"Nope, and it's Special Agent Gibbs or just Gibbs." He answered.

"Ok, just Gibbs." She smiled.

* * *

Tony and Ziva walked into the director's office she smiled, then got up from behind her desk.

"Tony, Ziva. Thank you for coming." She said politely.

"Ok something's wrong, Jen. Are you going to tell me what it is? Or do I have to find out for myself?"Ziva said, in a slightly nasty tone.

"Forgive her Director, she hasn't had her coffee this morning." Tony apologized and glared at her, Ziva glared back at him.

"Ahh, I see. Look I realize that no matter how nice I try to be right now, I know that neither of you are going to like the news I am about to give you at all, so I'm going to give it to you straight." Jenny explained.

"Thank you, Jen." Ziva replied.

"Ok, so here we go." Jenny walked over to the plasma screen and a picture came up. "Last night I received an e-mail about these two sisters. Elle and Catlynn Machin, they are French firearm dealers. They have recently made a deal with this couple, Emily Saunders and Lieutenant Matthew Saunders." She said as she put their picture on the screen. "They were found dead last night, I'm assuming the Machin sisters don't know this yet and are still expecting to meet them next week in a hotel in Virginia. None of them have ever met each other according to the intel we have collected over the past two years, the sisters haven't even seen pictures of the Saunders, just talked on the phone. We need two people to go undercover as them, this is where you two come in." Jen finished and took a deep breath.

"Jen-." Ziva started.

"I know, like I said, I knew you wouldn't like it, but I wouldn't be asking if I had another option, which unfortunately, I don't. We are talk $7,000,000 worth of weapons. You two are the best undercover agents we have here and we need this to be believable." Jen replied desperately. Tony looked at Ziva, then he took a deep breath.

"Ok we're in." he replied.

"Thank you so much, ok so we have some voice clips of the Saunders's voices. They're American so Ziva, you need to do you're accent, but have a listen." She informed them as she handed them the tapes.

"Jen what am I going to do with the girls? I mean Ellie has a broken arm and leg and they can't stay at home by themselves." Ziva said.

"I know that, Ziva. I'll take them like I used to." Jen replied.

"Are you sure?" Ziva asked.

"Yes, of course I am, I love the girls, you know that." Jen smiled.

"Ok, when do we leave?" Tony asked.

"Five days. I'll update you once we get more information. That ok?" Jen replied.

"Yes, thank you Jen." Ziva replied.

"That's all, you can go back now." Jen finished. They turned around and walked to the door, just as Tony opened the door he turned around.

"Director, before we heard Gibbs yelling downstairs, was it because of this?" Tony asked.

"Yes it was, Tony." Jen smiled. He nodded and then followed Ziva out.

"Come on Tony. If I don't get coffee soon I'm going to be very witchy." Ziva mumbled.

"Term is bitchy, Zee-vah." Tony grinned, she turned around and stared at him. "Sorry, I know you can't take a joke until we get you your coffee, so quickly quickly." Tony said.

* * *

Five minutes later they arrived back at their desks with coffee.

"She talk to you?" Gibbs asked.

"Yeah she did, boss. We leave in five days." Tony replied.

"Ok well, we haven't got a case today, so it's paperwork." Gibbs informed them.

"Leave for what?" Ellie asked. Tony and Ziva both looked at each other and walked over to Ziva's desk.

"Ok Ellie, we need to talk to you." Tony said quietly.

"You have a mission right?" Ellie asked.

"Yes, we do. But it's not long two, three weeks at the most." Ziva said.

"Ok so where are we going?" Ellie asked.

"That's the thing, you and Tali can't come with us, you are staying with Director Shepard while we are gone." Tony replied.

"Ziva, you promised you wouldn't leave." Ellie murmured. It was now obvious that she was about to start crying.

"I know, I did, and I'm really sorry for that. But you know I wouldn't have agreed to go if thought you wouldn't be safe with Jen, right?" She said as she went over to hug her daughter.

"Right. I'm sorry, I shouldn't be acting so immature." She said as a few tears escaped from her eyes.

"No, no don't be sorry, you're not being immature, you have every right to be upset. I hate having to leave you and your sister, but it won't be long, then everything can go back to normal ok?" Ziva whispered, trying to comfort her daughter.

"Uh huh." She muttered, she immediately felt safe once her mother wrapped her arms around her, it worked every time since Ellie could remember.

"What about me?" Tony whined, Ziva laughed, then Tony came over and hugged them both.

Once the adults let go, Ellie took a deep breath and wiped her eyes. "So five days, right?" She asked.

"Five days." Tony replied.

"Ok." She sighed.

* * *

The day went quite slowly, as Ziva and Tony were doing paperwork. Ellie spent most of the day in with Tali and Abby in Abby's lab. Then they spent some time down with Ducky in autopsy. It was not the first time Ellie had seen a dead body, but she was completely amazed by it. Ducky kept her amused with his stories about his first body and many other things. A few hours later, they went home and had dinner.

Later that night Ellie was sitting in her room reading a book when Tony came in.

"Hi Tony, what's up?" Ellie asked.

"I um wanted to give you something." Tony said nervously.

"Thanks, but Ziva already gave me a gun." She said as she patted her pillow.

"Ha, no actually I wanted to give you this." He said as he brought out a box from behind his back. She smiled and opened the box.

"An i-Pod thanks Tony!" She said as she hugged him, then she realized. "Aaaah, right." She said trying not to laugh.

"It's got all of your favourite CD's on it already. Feel free to try it out, like tonight for example." Tony laughed. Now Ellie was laughing so loudly she was about to wake up Tali.

"So you drew the short straw hmm? Well I give you my permission, but first I think I need to give you 'the talk'!" she giggled.

"No, it's alright I got it." He muttered.

"I hope you use protection, Tony, I don't think I'm ready for another baby brother or sister just yet." She said.

"You done making fun of me yet?" Tony asked.

"Yep." She smiled. "Seriously, I'm happy for you guys, you both deserve something good." She said.

"Thanks, Sweetie." He said, she hugged him again then he stood up.

"Why are you giving me this now? You go away in five days anyway." She said.

"I know, but you might need it at the Director's house, incase Gibbs comes over, I think they used to be more than work partners," He laughed.

"Oh my god! You mean Gibbs is Jethro?!" She said in amazement.

"Oh I probably wasn't supposed to say that. Ok good night." He said.

"Tony, please try and keep it down, I have school tomorrow." She grinned.

"Haha, GOOD NIGHT!" he said loudly.

"Good night, Tony." He kissed her forehead then walked out.

"How did it go?" Ziva asked.

"Well, she made fun of me A LOT! But I think tomorrow will be your turn to get humiliated." He smiled.

"She knows better than to make fun of me." She smiled.

"So, we go undercover as _married_ criminals for the second time this year, you think someone's trying to tell us something?" Tony asked.

"Yeah I think they're telling us we look like criminals." she laughed.

" Well actually I think it was something else." He edged closer to her and kissed her.

"Maybe that something else is further down the track, but we'll have to see won't we?" She said taking of his top.

"We will" He whispered. He kissed her again as he turned off the light.

_**Ok I'll let you piece together what happened next lol! I'm not good at writing those bits hehe, thanks to everyone, especially Elle for the help! Plz review and tell me what you think, thanks love Soph xxx:-D**_


	7. Bye

_**Ok hope you ppl are liking it so far!! Plz tell us what you think ta loveys Soph xxx:-D**_

Four days had passed and Tony and Ziva last day before the mission had arrived. Ziva woke up early with Tali that morning, so when Tony woke up that morning, he went into Tali's room and found Ziva sitting in the chair holding her youngest daughter.

"Morning." Tony yawned.

"Hi." Ziva whispered.

"Is she asleep?" He asked quietly.

"Uh huh." She replied. As she whispered, Tony noticed tears starting to collect in her eyes. He walked over to her and put his arm around her.

"What's wrong, Ziva?" He asked.

"Nothing I'm fine." She sniffed.

"This is your first time leaving Tali, hmm?" He said.

"For this long yes, I never got this emotional before when I had to leave, so why am I getting like this now?" She cried.

"I don't know, but all I can say is nothing is going to happen to them or us. In two weeks we will be home and everything will be back to normal again." He answered. He hugged her again then walked out.

* * *

A few hours later Ziva walked into Ellie's room and found her packing a bag.

"Ellie, I told you to do that last night. Why didn't you listen to me?" Ziva said.

"Well, I'm doing it now though, sorry." Ellie said. Ziva walked over to her daughter and hugged her.

"No it's ok, I don't want to have to fight with anyone today, especially you." Ziva told her. "So is everything packed now?" She asked.

"I think so, there's a few more things I need to pack later." Ellie replied. She closed her suitcase and moved it off the bed. "Why are you going for two weeks? You only have to make the deal, so why is it going to take that long?" Ellie asked.

"I think we have to do surveillance first for a few days as well, Jen said that when they have made deals like this before, they have bugged the rooms of the buyers, so Tony and I have to pretend to be married again, and from the pictures the girl I'm supposed to be is a bit of a skunk!" Ziva laughed. Ellie laughed at Ziva's mistake.

"Ziva, I think you meant skank, not skunk." Ellie giggled.

"Ok, sorry, skank, just like you!" She replied. Ellie gasped then Ziva dived on her and tickled her.

"Stop it Ziva!!" Ellie laughed.

"Do you give in?" Ziva asked. She continued to keep tickling her daughter until she answered.

"Yes, ok I give in!" She screamed. Ziva then stopped the torture and sat up straight on the bed.

"Have you had breakfast yet?" Ziva asked.

"Nope." Ellie replied.

"Come on then, I'll go and make something." Ziva said, she got up off the bed and pulled Ellie up to her feet, they then made their way to the kitchen. It was there that they found Tony already making breakfast.

"Hello ladies! Would you care to try Anthony DiNozzo's breakfast specialty?" He asked.

"Well that depends, did you wash you hands this time?" Ellie replied.

"Actually Ellie, I did." He grinned.

"Alright then," She said. They sat down at the table and Tony brought the food over.

* * *

Four hours later they were all packed and ready to go. Tony had put the bags in the car a Ziva was sitting inside with her daughters.

"Ziva, you're not going to cry are you?" Ellie asked.

"No, when do I ever cry?" Ziva replied. Wiping tears from her eyes.

"Well there's a lot of times actually, like right now for example, but mainly when you have PMS." Ellie laughed.

"Shut up Ellie, or I'll make you keep the cast on your arm on for an extra month, and I'll take your knife away." Ziva threatened.

"Ok, Ok! Shutting up!" Ellie replied. "So, are you ready to go?" She asked.

"Yes, Come on." Ziva answered. Ziva picked up Tali from the floor and they left the apartment and drove to NCIS.

* * *

Twenty minutes and a silent drive later, they were at NCIS. Jen was standing outside the building, so Ziva wiped her eyes again then got out of the car. Tony got the bags and put them in Jen's car.

"Hi guys, how are you?" Jen said as she hugged each of them.

"We're fine thank you." Ellie replied.

"Ok let's go inside." Jen said quietly.

They all made their way up to Jen's office without speaking.

"So Tony and Ziva, are you ready?" Gibbs asked.

"Yes, boss." Tony replied, Ziva nodded, but didn't say anything.

"Ok so we're going to give you more instructions when you get to the hotel, we have a car that's going to take you to the hotel as soon as possible, so when you're ready," Gibbs said. Gibbs looked at Jen and then gestured towards the door, then they walked out of the room and closed they door. They then got up out of the chairs, Ziva went over to Ellie and started crying as she wrapped her arms around her a few seconds later Ellie started crying too.

"I thought you said you weren't going to cry," Ellie sobbed.

"Well I lied, that's what PMS does to you" Ziva replied. Ziva heard a small laugh from Ellie then she wrapped her arms around her daughter even tighter than before.

"I need you to be a good girl for Jen, and I need you to look after Tali until we get back, can you do that?" Ziva cried.

"Of course, and you make sure you don't go and something stupid like get yourself killed or anything." Ellie replied.

"I promise Ellie, I will come back alive." Ziva laughed. "I love you, Ellie." Ziva whispered.

"I love you too, Ziva." Ellie replied. Ziva then parted from her eldest daughter and took Tali from Tony. Tony then went to hug Ellie.

"Ziva is going to be fine, Ellie, she has me to look out for her remember. And if you really need to talk to us, you can ask Jenny and she'll give us the message, ok?" Tony said to her.

"Ok Tony. I know I've only known you a little while, but I love you too, so don't die!" Ellie cried.

"Haha I won't kiddo, this is me you're talking to. And I love you too." He replied. They let go of each other then Jen and Gibbs came back into the room. Ziva passed Tali to Jen and Tali started to cry, this made Ziva feel worse and she cried even harder.

"Bye guys,"Tony said.

"Bye," Ziva cried, Ellie and Jen waved at them, then they followed Gibbs out the door.

_**Sorry that took so long guys!!! Really sorry! Hope you still like it and aren't to mad at me :D I promise to update soon! Thank you my dears! Love Soph xxx:-D**_


	8. Mr and Mrs Saunders

_**Ok guys I am really sorry that I haven't updated in a while!!! I hope you still like the story. Ok so here it goes, tell me what you think from Soph xxx:D**_

Forty minutes later their car slowed down and McGee parked outside the hotel. Ziva got out of the back seat first and Tony followed after her. He laughed as he saw her stumble in the amazingly high stilettos she had on her feet, but she moved backwards and elbowed him in the ribs.

"Ow, _Emily_, we're supposed to be married and in love, I'm pretty sure a wife wouldn't do that to her husband." Tony muttered in her in ear.

"Well, _Matthew_, I'm pretty sure that they don't have the parking lot bugged, so I don't have to be your wife until we get into that hotel room. And I'd like to see you try and walk in these things." She hissed back. McGee caught up to them and removed something from his jacket pocket.

"Guys you need to wear these at all times so we can contact you and you need to get rid of your weapons, so you don't look suspicious." He told them as he handed them the earwigs.

"McGee, are you serious?!" Ziva whispered.

"I'm afraid so. We have placed you both a gun in the bedside tables, just incase, but you can't take them out with you." He replied. Ziva sighed then handed him her gun and Tony did the same. McGee checked the weapons, then looked at Ziva.

"Ziva, where's your knife?" McGee asked.

"Um, well I left it at home." She murmured. McGee looked at her again.

"Ziva give it to me." He ordered. She rolled her eyes and passed him the knife.

"When did you become so bossy, McGee?" Ziva said.

"Hey! I'm just doing what Gibbs told me to do." McGee replied defensively.

"Steady on soldier, no need to get angry." Tony smiled.

* * *

As they got closet to the entrance of the hotel, McGee dropped back a bit so that he didn't come into the hotel at the same time as Tony and Ziva. Tony placed his hand on Ziva's back and they walked up to the front desk.

"Hi, I'm Chelsea. How can I help you today?" the lady at the desk asked cheerfully.

"Hi Chelsea, I have a room reservation for Matthew Saunders." Tony grinned.

"Ok here we go, Matthew Saunders, you're in room 408, would you like someone to take your bags up to your room?" She said.

"Yes please." Tony replied.

"Ok. Here is your key, I hope you enjoy your stay." The lady smiled. Tony smiled back and took the key from the girl and they walked towards the elevator.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were flirting with her." Ziva whispered into his ear.

"Me, flirting with her? Of course not." Tony laughed. "What's the matter? Jealous?" Ziva rolled her eyes at the question and continued walking and stepped into the elevator.

"Well, you are _supposed_ to be my husband." She replied.

"Hey, like you said, we don't have to be husband and wife until we get into the hotel room and besides, I'm just getting into character, and from what I've learnt about Matthew and Emily Saunders, fidelity wasn't one of the strong points in their marriage." He told her.

"Oh I get it, so when the room service guy comes up, I get to grab his ass without you saying anything, yes?" She smiled.

"You can do anything do want my dear," he replied. The elevator slowed and seconds later the doors opened at their floor, they walked out and went to find their room.

* * *

They got to the door then Tony turned to face Ziva.

"Are you ready? Are you ok to do this?" Tony asked. She nodded her head and then he opened the door. "Boss, Director, we're in the room." He whispered.

"Ok, I need you guys to discretely look around the room, there'll be something weird in the flowers or under the bed. I'll send McGee in later to clear them up, but until then, you two are married, Ziva remember Emily Saunders was American." Jenny replied. The two agents did as they were ordered and slowly walked around the room. Tony crept up behind Ziva and grabbed her butt, she turned around and slapped him.

"Ow! That's the second time today, you hurt me z- honey." Tony squealed.

"Well, being fair, I did warn you." Ziva replied. Tony was shocked to hear the almost perfect American accent she had adopted.

"Yes- yeah I suppose you did." Tony stuttered. Ziva laughed at his response. They both cringed when the voice in their head yelled.

"DiNozzo! You found anything other than Ziva's ass yet?!" Gibbs barked.

"Still looking- I mean looking around the room, boss." Tony replied. He was quickly saved by the hotel phone ringing.

"Baby, get the phone would ya?" He called in slightly different accent to his own. Ziva scoffed and got up of the bed.

"You're a pig Matthew, you know that right?" she snapped. Tony smirked then Ziva picked up the phone.

"Hello?" She answered.

"_Bonjour Emily, it's Elle. I see you're finally here." _The lady spoke.

"Yes and Matthew's already driving me crazy!" Ziva muttered as she looked at Tony.

"_My dear,_ _well I'm_ _sure you married him for a reason, right" _Elle laughed.

"I know, but right now I'm having trouble remembering that reason!" she replied.

"_I'm sure it will all work out fine. So anyway, I have received news on the shipment." _She said quietly.

"Oh yes?" Ziva answered trying to sound surprised.

"_Yes. My associates say it can be here within ten days."_ Elle replied.

"That's extremely good to hear!" Ziva said.

"_Very good, so how about we celebrate? Tonight. There's a little Italian restaurant two blocks away from the hotel, you can't miss it. It would give us a chance to finally meet face to face." _She told her.

"That's fine with us." Ziva answered.

"_Great! So we'll meet you there at about 8pm?" _She asked.

"Yes 8pm, ok. Goodbye." Ziva said the last sentence and then put the phone down.

"Who was that, Emily?" Tony asked.

"That was the sisters, we're meeting them for dinner tonight." Ziva answered.

"Ok. So have we got time to shake the sheets Mrs Saunders?" Tony playfully raised his eyebrows and Ziva rolled her eyes.

"There's always time for that, Matt." She grinned.

_**Ok sorry that took so long to write but I'm on holidays now, so I'll try and get a fair bit done. Plz tell me what you think, I really appreciate it! ta my dears, love Soph xxx:D**_


	9. Bugs and GHB

_**Sorry updating took so long! I had heaps of homework, I thought I'd get a break on the holidays, but obviously not! Well I hope you like it I really need your feedback, coz I need to know where to go from here. Ta loveys from Soph xxx:D**_

Gibbs and the director were watching Tony and Ziva from MTAC and Gibbs started to blush slightly at the sounds that were coming from the room. Jenny noticed the redness of his cheeks and laughed at him.

"Jethro, in all the years I have known you, I think this is the first time I have ever seen you embarrassed." She laughed. Gibbs turned away from her.

"Yeah, well Jen. Are you sure they're faking?" Gibbs asked.

"Positive, they know that we are watching them Jethro." Jen replied.

"Ok, well when they're out, are you going to send McGee up to check for the bugs?" He asked.

"Of course." She replied.

"Good. I'm going downstairs." Gibbs said, he then stood up and walked out.

* * *

Two hours later Tony and Ziva walked out of the hotel room and made their way to the elevator.

"We're heading down, boss." Tony whispered.

"Ok Tony. McGee, in a few minutes you need to get up to the room to get rid of the bugs, then head to the restaurant incase Tony and Ziva need back up." Gibbs replied. Jen came and sat next to him but just as soon as she was in the chair, her phone rang. She answered it then twenty seconds later, she closed it again.

"That was Abby, she's got something for us." She told him. Gibbs got up and followed his boss to the lab.

* * *

"What have you got for us Abs?" Gibbs asked.

"Ok, so Ducky told me they died in a car crash, which is pretty obvious from the state of the bodies, but when I tested the blood from Emily and Matthew Saunders and I found large amounts of Gamma hydroxybutyric acid, know as GHB or….?"

"Date rape drug." Jen replied.

"Very good Director." Abby smiled.

"So the GHB caused the crash?" Gibbs asked.

"Probably. So here's what I'm thinking. If they went out for dinner, someone could've spiked their food but it would've been towards the end of the meal since the drug can takes anywhere from ten minutes to an hour to become effective, they get in the car, drive for a few minutes before someone gets sleepy then BAM! Crash, dead! Looks like it wasn't an accident after all." Abby replied.

"That's good work Abs." Gibbs kissed her cheek then turned to walk away.

"Hey Gibbs, where are the little Zivas?" She asked.

"They're down with Ducky." Gibbs replied.

"No fair! He's gotta learn to share, Gibbs.." Abby whined.

"I'll bring the girls up in a bit, Abby." Jen laughed. Abby put a smile back on her face and turned to the computer, Gibbs and Jen then walked out.

_**Sorry it's so short guys, just thought it should end there. I promise I will have more soon,plz review because feedback is more important now than ever, if there are things you like, things you don't plz let me know so I can make it a story you want to read. Thankyou to everyone and especially Elle for getting me to finish this xxx:D**_


	10. Dinner

_**Ok I know it's been almost two months since I updated and I'm very sorry! Plz don't be mad… huge thank you to Elle for bugging me and getting me to write:D ok so enjoy!**_

Tony opened the door to the restaurant and held it until Ziva walked through. They stepped up to the counter and were greeted by an elderly man.

"Hello sir, Ma'am. My name is Phillip, how may I help you this evening?" The man asked.

"Hi, we have dinner reservations, I believe they are under Machin." Tony replied. While Tony was talking, Ziva looked around the room to see if she could find the sisters. In the furthest corner she saw the two women, they had their backs to her but she recognized them from the photos.

"You see them Gibbs?" Ziva whispered.

"Yeah, we see them, ok go over to the table and be friendly, try not to kill them." He answered.

"I'm not stupid, Gibbs." She muttered.

"I know, just making sure."

Tony and Ziva followed the man to their table, the women turned around then stood up to greet them.

"Emily, Matthew, I'm glad you could make it." Elle smiled.

"We are too." Tony grinned. They all walked over to the table and took their seats.

* * *

McGee sat on the floor outside Tony and Ziva's hotel room playing on his PSP when Gibbs nearly deafened him.

"McGee! Stop playing on that damn game box and sweep the room, you are not paid to sit around on your ass all day!" Gibbs yelled, McGee sprung up from the floor and quickly opened the door to the hotel suite.

"I'm sorry boss!" McGee stammered.

"McGee don't say you're sorry, just search the room!" he ordered.

McGee stepped into the room and looked around. After a few minutes he noticed a small camera on the top of the television and a microphone on the pen on the desk.

"Boss, I found the camera and the microphone." McGee whispered.

"Do I have to tell you how to do everything McGee? Use some thing off the tray to stop them working." Gibbs replied. McGee did as he was told and covered the microphone with a tray and placed a vase of flowers in front of the camera.

"Ok, now get out of the room." Gibbs instructed.

McGee took one last look around the room then closed the door.

* * *

"So Emily, tell me more about yourself. I find it is better to know people before you go into business with them." Catlynn said.

"Well what would you like to know?" Ziva asked.

"I don't know, how long have you been married?" she replied.

"Not very long, I think it is two years in August, right Matt?" Ziva answered.

"Sure is, been the longest two years of my life!" Tony laughed. He knew it was the wrong thing to say when Ziva kicked him in the shins. He winced as Ziva laughed at him.

"So either of you married?" Ziva asked.

"Not currently, I married at 17, but it didn't work out. He enjoyed the company of many other women during our marriage." Elle replied.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Ziva told her.

"Oh there is no need to be sorry I got my revenge, once I found out, I shot him." Elle laughed.

"Nice call, I would've done the same thing. Are you listening Matthew?" Ziva said as she raised an eyebrow at him. Tony gulped and slowly edged away from Ziva.

"I'm terribly sorry ladies, but it is getting late and my wife here needs her beauty sleep if she wants to stay as beautiful as she is for a few more years." Tony smiled.

"Of course. I expect we will have more news about the shipment soon, so we will contact you then. Bonsoir." Elle replied. She kissed Tony and Ziva's cheeks and Catlynn did the same.

"Bonsoir ladies." Ziva said. They waved goodbye and walked towards the hotel.

"So how'd we do boss?" Tony asked.

"You did good. McGee found their bugs and the camera, so if you talk quietly you'll be ok." Gibbs replied.

"Tony." Ziva said.

"Yes Ziva?" He answered.

"I know you have to act as this guy, but if you ever talk about me like that again, I'll definitely make sure you can live out your dream as a soprano!"

**Ahhh took so long to write!!! Finally done though, sorry if it's not anything special but yeah, ok I'll leave you alone and shut up now PS please review xxx:D**


	11. breakfast

_**I know, I know I haven't written in yonks, I'm sorry. Thanks again to Elle for the bugging. Hope It's ok, please tell me what you think ttfn Soph xxx:D**_

That night, Ellie was woken by her sister's piercing cries coming from down the hall. Ellie slowly crawled out of the bed and walked to Jen's bedroom.

"What's wrong?" Ellie asked sleepily. Jen turned around to face Ellie.

"She won't stop crying." Jen replied. "I tried feeding her, changing her, even singing. Nothing is working."

"Here, I'll try." Ellie said while holding her hands out. Jen nodded and passed Tali over to Ellie. Ellie started cradling her sister and singing a lullaby in Hebrew. After a few minutes Tali stopped crying and went to sleep.

"Good job." Jen whispered.

"Thanks, it's the only thing that settles her sometimes, usually Ziva sings it but I have a similar voice so Tali can't really tell the difference." She yawned.

"Ok come on then kiddo, back to bed. Have a good sleep." Jen said as she helped Ellie up.

"Mhmm, Night." Ellie mumbled as she made her way back to Jen's guest room.

* * *

The next morning Ziva and Tony were sitting at the table eating breakfast.

"So is there anything we have to do today, Gibbs?" Tony asked

"Maintain your cover. They said it could be as much as ten days, so until they call, there's nothing you two can do." Gibbs replied.

"Gibbs what are we supposed to do here all day? It's a hotel for goodness sake." Ziva said.

"I have a few ideas." Tony smiled. Ziva gave him a stare and looked away. "Believe it or not Ziva, sex isn't the only thing I'm talking about, they have a pool, sauna, private masseurs-." Tony replied before being cut off.

"24 hour therapists, DiNozzo. NCIS is paying so I suggest you get one." Gibbs shouted. Tony started laughing.

"Haha, good one boss."

"Tony, I think he was serious." Ziva laughed. Tony stopped laughing and went back to eating his breakfast. "Can't I come to NCIS and see the girls?" Ziva asked.

"I'm sorry Ziva, but they still might have people watching you. If they follow you to NCIS, it might blow your cover." Gibbs replied.

"Right, right." Ziva mumbled.

"How about shopping? All girls like shopping right?" Tony asked. Ziva raised her eyebrows and stared at him. "Ok then not all girls." Tony finished. "Well why don't we go out to lunch? I'm starving." He said as he patted his stomach.

"You're still eating breakfast!" Ziva said loudly.

"Well I can't help it, I'm a growing boy." Tony said as he stuffed the last of his eggs into his mouth. Ziva sighed and laughed as egg yolk ran down the side of his mouth.

"You're a pig, you know that right?" Ziva asked.

"Oink oink." He replied. "So lunch later?" Tony asked.

"Later." She answered.

* * *

Abby was sitting at her desk in the lab making conversation with Bert when she heard the door open. She sprung out of her seat and went over to find the director, Ellie and Tali.

"Good morning Abby." Jen said.

"Good morning director, Ziva juniors." Abby smiled.

"Abby, I have a favor to ask, is it ok if I leave the girls here for a bit? There's some work I have to do." Jen told her.

"Of course it is, I know a few things we can do already." Abby replied.

"Ok so I'll be back in a few hours, please don't burn the lab down." Jen laughed.

"Oh we'll try not to." Ellie smiled. Jen turned around and walked out. Ellie turned to face Abby but saw she wasn't there. "Abby?" Ellie called. Seconds later Abby came through the door carrying boxes that almost came up to her eye.

"Ok games, first we can play Twister, then Monopoly, Cluedo and oooh The Game of Life!"

_**ok sorry if that was bad or whatever, but I'm a bit rusty, I promise I will write more now, and holidays are coming up soon and my birthday hehe:D plz review:D:D:D love Sophie xxx:D **_


	12. Hopefully

_**Ok update, not as soon as I'd hoped but oh well. Hope it's ok, Soph xxx:D**_

Gibbs and the director stood in MTAC watching the big screen which showed Tony and Ziva walking out of the hotel.

"I'm sorry Tony, but I really don't understand the joke." Ziva said to her partner.

"Well people would expect that the chicken would cross the road for a funny reason since it was a joke, but when they say 'to get to the other side' it's really a just a normal logical explanation for the chicken to cross." He replied.

"No, I do understand that. It's just I didn't think it was funny, it's really just a statement, not a joke." She told him.

"I don't think you quite get the humor of the English language yet do you?" he laughed as he started walking faster, leaving Ziva behind with a confused look on her face.

"But it wasn't funny." She called after him.

"Hey you two! Stay together, and Tony?" Gibbs said.

"Yes Boss?" Tony answered.

"If Ziva's not going to get a joke, just leave it, we can't afford for you two to have pathetic little fights during this mission." Gibbs instructed.

"Understood." Tony replied.

"So, where exactly are we going Jen?" Ziva asked.

"It's a small café a few streets away, not too far." Jen replied.

"Yeah, but why do we have to walk there?" Tony whined.

"Getting tired already DiNozzo?" Jen laughed. "Anyway, you're walking because this way we can monitor the streets looking for suspicious people or cars that are following you."

"Are you using us as bait director?" Tony asked in an accusing tone.

"I would rather not use the term bait, but in a way, yes." Jen replied.

"Ok, just checking." Tony said.

"Well take a left at this next corner, then another left at the next and it should be right there." She instructed.

* * *

In the lab Ellie sat in a chair with her crutches to the side while Abby was sitting on the floor and Tali was in her car seat.

"Can I buy the waterslides please, Abby?" Ellie asked politely.

"Sure. That's $4 please, blue house right?" Abby replied.

"Yep."Ellie laughed as they exchanged the objects.

The eldest girls in the lab turned to look at Tali who fascinated by Bert.

"Be careful, you might not be able to get him back at the end of the day." Ellie warned her.

"Oh I'll find a way, if not I'm sure she'll settle for one of the others." Abby replied as she pressed on Bert's stomach to make his fart sound, Tali stared at him and laughed.

Abby got up from the floor when she heard the phone ring, she went into the other room to answer it. Two minutes later she returned.

"That was Gibbs, I'm getting footage taken from Tony and Ziva a few minutes ago." Abby said as she went over to the computer, Ellie grabbed her crutches and followed her.

"Gibbs asked me to look at the footage to see if there's anyone following them from the hotel to the café, I can use my computer to try and identify them." Abby explained.

"Oh." Ellie replied. "Is Ziva on any of the video?" she asked.

"I don't think so." Abby replied softly. "Because Tony and Ziva were taking the video, there's not much chance they'll be on it. Sorry." Abby saw Ellie's face drop slightly when she told her.

"It's ok." Ellie replied quietly.

"You miss her huh?" Abby asked.

"She's only been gone a couple of days, it sounds stupid right?" She laughed. Abby shook her head as she hugged her.

"No no. It's not stupid, it's never stupid to miss your mom." Abby replied.

"It's just that, we've finally got settled and even though me and Ziva have always been close, having Tony around makes it feel kinda like a proper family." Ellie told her.

"I get that. But hey, now you have a family here too and if you ever have any problems, you know that every person here will help you out, ok? And don't worry, they're going to be home soon." Abby smiled.

"Hopefully." Ellie murmered. Abby tried to ignore the negative response.

"So come on, you want to help me look for the person after Tony and Ziva?"

"Ok." She replied.

* * *

Tony and Ziva sat outside at a table eating their food.

"Now this is a good café! Big portion sizes equal awesome!" Tony smiled.

"Well I guess that's good for you because I don't think I'll be able to eat all of mine." Ziva replied.

"So have you found anything yet Gibbs?" Tony asked.

"Abby's looking now, Ellie's helping her." Gibbs replied.

"The girls are there?"Ziva asked.

"Jen brought them with her this morning." Gibbs told her.

"Oh, ofcourse." Ziva replied as a smile crept onto her face.

Suddenly they heard another voice speaking.

"Hey guys, it's Abby. I found him. Across the road from you is a dark green ford, license plate SKJ427. I'm running his face through the database now, I should get a hit soon." She told them. Tony quickly glanced to his right to see a man with brown hair and shades in the car Abby described

"Good work Abs." Gibbs said.

"Are the girls with you right now Abby?" Ziva asked.

"Sorry Ziva, I'm up in MTAC, Ducky's in my lab looking after them, they're fine by the way." Abby replied.

"Oh, good." Ziva said.

"Well I'm going back down there now."Abby said.

"Ok, say hi for me."Ziva said quickly.

"Me too." Tony followed.

"Ok, I will. Bye." Abby laughed. Ziva sighed and Tony quickly squeezed her hand.

"They're fine." Tony assured her.

"I know, I know." Ziva replied.

"Don't worry, we'll be home soon." He told her.

"Hopefully." She answered.

_**Ok I hope that was alright, I'll try to update soon, thanks to everyone for your support, Sophie xxx:D**_


	13. Good service

**Disclaimer:** I own NCIS, it's mine! I'll just have to answer the phone…

Ok it was Don Bellisario, he informed me that during one wild night in Mexico which I have no memory of, I sold NCIS to him for $3. Oh well, but he told me I could play with them a bit.

_**I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while, real life got busy and I got a bad case of writer's block:( I would like to thank people who have kept reviewing, it helped a lot, so here we go…**_

Four days had passed, four completely wasted days. The Machin sisters hadn't contacted Tony and Ziva, Abby couldn't identify the man that followed them to the café and the dark green ford that was used to follow them was reported stolen a week earlier and was found abandoned in nearby woodland.

Every day Tony and Ziva were away from the girls, they missed them more. They anxiously waited in the hotel room for a phone call that would mean they could go home.

Tony and Ziva were sitting on the bed watching a movie when they heard the phone ringing. Ziva jumped off the bed and answered the phone.

"Yes?" She answered. After a few seconds her face dropped as she replied slightly quieter. "Yes, we would like to make reservations in the hotel dining room tonight, thank you." She put the phone down and moved back on to the bed.

"Gibbs, are you sure we haven't found anything?" Ziva asked.

"Ziva, I've told you this a hundred times, and I'll tell you again. Until they contact us, there's nothing we can do." Gibbs said in a slightly harsh tone. He received a death stare from the director who was with him in MTAC.

"It shouldn't be long now Ziva, don't worry." Jen replied.

Gibbs turned around as he heard his cell phone. "Yeah Abs, what is it?" he asked.

"Gibbs, I found something interesting in their personal effects." Abby said excitedly.

"Ok I'll be right down." Gibbs replied as he shut his phone and walked out of the room.

* * *

"Where are the kids?" Gibbs asked as he looked around the room.

"Ducky took them to the cafeteria for lunch." Abby replied

"Ok, so what did you find Abs?" Gibbs asked. Abby smiled and looked in his hands to see no caf-pow, he saw the disappointment on her face as he replied.

"The caf-pow will depend on whether or not you have good information."

"Well in that case, I am guaranteed my caf-pow. As I was looking through Matthew Saunder's effects, I found a receipt for the restaurant the went to on the night they died. It's an Italian restaurant called La Bella Vista, it's not too far from here. Whoever drugged them would've had to have been there to tamper with the food, so maybe there was video footage and people who saw the guy." She explained.

"Good work Abs." Gibbs said as he kissed her cheek then walked away.

"Gibbs, are you forgetting something?" She called.

"Put it on my tab" he yelled back and walked out. Abby turned to Bert and leaned on the bench.

"Whatever happened to good service in this world Bert?"

_**Ok I'm writing the next chapter straight away, I just wanted to break it up a bit, don't really know why. Sorry it took so long xx**_


	14. The restaurant

_**I know I suck. To all those who give a damn about the story, sorry for making you wait so long.**_

"McGee, I need you back at headquarters in civilian clothing in 10 minutes. We have to visit the restaurant the Saunders' visited before they died." Gibbs spoke into his microphone.

"Boss, I think that might be a problem."McGee replied nervously.

"Why is that McGee?" Gibbs asked impatiently.

"Well, it takes at least 20 minutes to get back to headquarters and with the traffic at this time of day, it might take longer." The younger agent stuttered.

"Why can't you drive like a proper agent?" Gibbs muttered under his breath. "Fine. Just get here as soon as you can."

"Found anything boss?" Tony asked anxiously.

"Nothing yet. We're questioning the kitchen staff to see if they saw anyone tampering with the victims' food." Gibbs answered.

"But if one of the kitchen staff was paid to tamper with the food, they're not likely to fess up are they?" Tony asked.

"You think I don't know that DiNozzo? It's a long shot but it the best lead we have at this point." Gibbs snapped.

"Yeah sorry boss." Tony apologized.

"Ziva, slap him." Ziva smiled and hit the back of his firmly with her palm.

"Ouch! Did you have to do it so hard?" He whined.

"I was only channeling Gibbs' anger and frustration. Ziva said innocently.

"Oh yes, because it had nothing to do with your own anger and frustration whatsoever." Tony said as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Stop being such a dry baby, Tony." She smiled.

"I would've thought a dry baby was a good thing. It's cry baby, Ziva." He replied

Ziva shrugged. "Difference of one letter."

"McGee,you driving yet?" Gibbs asked.

"Just getting in the car, I won't be long." McGee replied.

"I'm going to get coffee. If you're not at headquarters by the time I'm back, I'd suggest keeping the hotel uniform." Gibbs informed him.

"Mind me asking why boss?" McGee asked curiously.

"Because if you don't get here soon, that's where you're new job will be." Gibbs smiled as the elevator doors closed.

* * *

Half an hour later McGee and Gibbs pulled up outside La Bella Vista. They got out of the car and noticed a kitchen hand in the alley.

"Excuse me sir. NCIS, Special Agent Gibbs and McGee. You work here?" McGee asked as he showed the man his badge.

"For three years now. Is there a problem?" He replied.

"We're investigating the death of a navy lieutenant and his wife. They died ten days ago in a car crash. The night they died, they came here and we have reason to believe someone here drugged their food or drinks." Gibbs told him.

"Ok, you'll want to talk to the manager first. He's inside, I'll take you to him."

Once inside, the kitchen hand took them to a tall man with styled black hair talking to customers. The man walked towards them and smiled.

"Hello gentlemen, welcome to La Bella Vista, my name is Nicholas Brennan. How can I help you today?" The manager said cheerfully.

"Mr Brennan, NCIS. I'm Special Agent Gibbs, this is Special Agent McGee. We're investigating the death of this couple." He said as he held up a photo of the Saunders'.

"Please, call me Nick. I don't understand. How is my restaurant involved?" Nick asked.

"The Saunders' were killed in a car crash ten days ago which was caused by someone slipping GHB into their food or drinks. Since they ate here the night they died, we were wondering if someone here saw a person tampering with their food." McGee answered.

"Well I'm not sure if my staff will be able to remember a single person from ten days ago, we do see a lot of different faces coming into this restaurant. Feel free to ask anyone though. I'll also get the surveillance tapes from last Wednesday for you." Nick replied.

"Thank you for you're cooperation." McGee nodded.

"Not a problem, if there's anything we can help you with, don't be afraid to let us know." Nick winked at McGee, shook their both hands then walked away.

"I think you have an admirer, McGee." Gibbs whispered.

"Oh no, Boss, I'm not- not that there's anything wrong with it, it's just-."McGee stammered and his face became bright red.

Gibbs turned away from McGee and silently laughed. "Just do your job and question the staff."

_**So how was that? Thought I'd give McGee a little more of the spotlight. Reviews are always welcome (wink wink nudge nudge) Sophie. **_


End file.
